Breathtaking

[»Míríel«]

Beauty, it surrounded this place. Everything, from the arching trees, the flowing water, and rocks had something elegant about them. The colors were warm and welcoming, even the water, though cold, was refreshing to the touch. It had been a hard decision for Neron, to decide if he was going to plunge into the water for a swim, or play his beloved instrument. He had decided on the latter.

His green eyes drifted down to the curvy for of the violin as his fingers traced over the flaming deep grains that churned on the surface. IT had been to long since he had taken her in hand. A glimmer of a fear sparked within. What if he had forgotten, what if he couldn't connect with her like before. His fingers traced over the finger board and then gave one of the strings a pluck. He winced at the noise. "I am sorry." He muttered under his breath as he firmly grasped the tuning keys. It didn't take long until every string sang a pure note. A smile was brought to his lips, but instead of taking her right up into his arms and playing her, he waited, with her resting on his lap. He needed a song.

Closing his eyes he took a deep sigh and waited. The tune would come. Rushing water pouring from the cliff, trees rustling their boughs, birds chirping, squirrels scavenging, grass shifting. With a smooth and quick motion The violin rested on his shoulder, his hand grasped the bow. The hair touched the string and a note sang forth. The song started with notes flowing together at a rapid pace, but then it smoothed out and followed each other in a smoother and grander rhythm. There was something about Neron's playing that once you knew him, the tune, though impromptu, sounded familiar. It was his soul. Luckily, for those who heard it, this melody lacked the darkness it usually held. It still had the mystery, but in a lighter tone that rolled and flowed forth from the strings.

He was one with his instrument, and for the moment the world about him no longer existed. It was him and the music, everything else either added to inspiration, or faded to the background. IT had been to long.

[saerwen]

Jaedon walked through the woods, trying desperately to relax. She had been feeling slightly out of sorts all day. Her hand kept running through her hair, starting at the top of her head and reaching all of the way to the ends, which were now not that far down. It felt so strange, not having the long curling black locks weighing her down. There was a strange sense of freedom to it, but it also gave her a very strange feeling of being lightheaded. In reality, her head really was lighter, she just didn't like thinking about it like that. Her long black hair that had once reached all the way down to the small of her back had been cut to just above her shoulders, and Jaedon just couldn't stop running her hand through the short, silky stuff. She had had her hair cut short before, in fact, when she was an assassin, she had kept it short all of the time, or else in a tight bun. However, Damion had persuaded her to grow it out, and see how she liked it. She had to say that she did like having it long for certain purposes, but it was so much easier to take care of when it was short. She dreaded running into Damion because she knew that he would give her some sort of drastic lecture.

She was heading towards the falls in the hopes for a moment to herself to enjoy the cold water. It was starting to warm up and there was no better time for a swim. She hadn't bothered bringing something to swim in because she hadn't really planned on anyone else being there. What was wrong with skinny dipping in a remote place that was hardly ever visited by anyone? And besides, she could change forms if worse came to worst. Sometimes Jaedon wondered if she was a little to liberal with things like that, but then she figured that if anyone said anything they were just being legalistic. However, she did know for a fact that if Neron or Damion had said anything about it she more than likely wouldn't have done it. But the rule about what they didn't know not hurting them still applied. If they didn't ask, she certainly wasn't going to tell. A smirk crawled onto her face as she thought about asking Miriel to come with her one time. Perhaps she could persuade her friend to try it once she got a little more accustomed to water.

Jaedon had just cleared the trees when she began to hear something just barely mixing in with the sound of the falls. She couldn't distinguish the sound just yet, but she knew that something was making noise. Great. Just my luck that someone would be around on the day that I wanted to go swimming. Maybe I should just go to the lagoon... Jaedon was about to turn around when the little demonic side of her gave her another idea, Or perhaps I will just scare whoever this is away and keep the falls for myself. She gave a nasty grin and continued on her way. When she got closer though, she realized that her plan was all in vain. There would be no scaring this occupant away. Her thoughts of don't ask don't tell vanished as well. Inevitably he would ask what she was there for, and when she said swimming she would only be able to draw a few conclusions. She really hadn't wanted to go swimming in her clothes...

But there was one good side to this. Neron was playing his violin, and the sound was more than delightful. Jaedon stood behind him for a moment, taking in not only the sound of the violin but also the surroundings. The two mixed together seemed to embody peace and tranquility. It was a nice feeling, peace, but a feeling that she hardly ever had. Now though, as she watched Neron play and looked around her, she did feel something inside of her well up with joy and then explode with this strange feeling that everything in the world was alright today. She sat down beside the water, taking her shoes off and allowing her feet to dangle in the cool H2O as it swept past. She leaned back and listened as she stared at the falls, marveling at all the little rainbows that popped up because of the sunlight. She would wait until Neron was done and until he had realized that she was there before speaking.

[»Míríel«]

Something about Neron changed, the environment, his senses were perceiving it differently. He wasn't sure why, and because he was so deeply into his music, the change never disrupted him. The music changed though, it became stronger, powerful, but feminine, there were hints of frailty, but they were contrasted with strength. Little did he know that his mind had sensed Jaedon nearby, and he was playing about her.

Once Jaedon had sat down and put her feet into the water the sound of the water being disrupted caused him to pause. Letting out a long sigh his eyes cracked opened. Why had the tune disappeared from his mind? He saw the back of a girl, she looked familiar. Still getting out of the zone of his music for a moment he let out another sigh and put the instrument in her bed. He was always getting interrupted when he played. It wasn't really the person's fault, Neron lost track of time when he played, usually he only stopped when interrupted.

The usually stoic demeanor settled on his face as he stood up. IT dawned on him suddenly who it was. Jaedon. His eyes rested on the middle of her back, her hair. He smirked and called out to her. "Hello, little stalker, do you really think going into a disguise is going to fool me?" He walked over to her side.

[saerwen]

Jaedon had been quite happy to listen to Neron, but of course, he eventually figured out that someone was there, and he stopped. She supposed that it was due to a lack of concentration, but there was a part of her that just wished he would keep going. She could have listened to him all day.

When he spoke it took Jaedon a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about as he walked towards her. What on earth was he talking about a disguise? Then all of a sudden it dawned on her. Her hair.

"No, I just hoped that it might throw Damion off the deep end. His punishment for leaving me, I'm afraid," Jaedon tried to sound as though she had planned it that way, but in reality, it was just something that she had done. She felt like she needed to change something, so she had rather impulsively gone and got her hair cut one day. At first she had almost regretted it, but now she rather liked it. It was longer than her shoulders, but because it was so curly, it waved and bounced, causing it to appear shorter than it was.

Jaedon looked down into the water at her feet, which were being swept along with the water. So much for swimming. She looked at her black shorts and bleach white shirt. There was no way she was getting in, even with her clothes on. At least, not willingly. She lifted one of her feet out of the water, but found that it was already starting to get cold, so she stuck in back in the water. Keeping her eyes pinned down, she asked, "Why do you always stop playing when I come around? I am just overly distracting or something?"

[»Míríel«]

"Somehow I highly doubt that." Sitting down beside her he stared at her for a moment, as if taking in the changes and adjusting. Reaching out he ran his fingers through her hair gently. Her hair was so silky and smooth. The curls seemed to wrap around the finger that stroked them, trying to keep it from going away. Once her reached the end, and tucking it behind her ear just turned and looked away. Changes never really disturbed Neron to much, they were just curious, and the reason behind them even more so. Still if a reaction is what she wanted, he wasn't going to give it, just to tease her. He had to admit he did like the change, though he also missed the long flowing hair she once had. "Looks more like you got i a fight with a scissors and lost." He turned to her with a straight face, "Losing looks good on you Jaedon, you should do it more often."

He leaned back on his arms and flicked his hair to the side as he looked at the trees and water around them. "You?" He turned to her "Distracting?" His look was innocent, "Now why on earth would you think that?" He turned back to the water. "I would call it, disrupting or killing the mood, I just couldn't continue playing." A smirk came to his face.

[saerwen]

Jaedon stared at Neron for a moment, almost shocked into silence by what he said and then everything made sense. At first she thought he had meant that the hair cut looked bad and she was startled, since she had actually liked it, but then he made his joking comment and everything in her eased up. But then she realized what he had said and then felt slightly miffed.

She narrowed her eyes at him, "Well, at least that you recognize that I actually have to try to lose. You on the other hand just can't help it."

She shoved his shoulder in reply to his latter comments, "You liar. That is the biggest load of nonsense I have ever heard." Jaedon knew that he was just joking, but she really couldn't find a solid reason for why it wouldn't be true. She did happen to have a rather dark aura most of the time...But so did he, so her dark aura shouldn't have changed or stood out to him that much. She just smiled at herself when she realized that she was trying to justify something completely ridiculous. It had no relevance to anything aside from their poking and jabbing at each other. Why did she always take things so literally?

[»Míríel«]

Neron shrugged. "I wouldn't be a gentleman if I let a lady lose." He sighed mockingly, "I just can't help it, like you said." He had set this one up perfectly, luring her into saying things so he could throw a rebuttal her way without thinking twice. This was a game he never tired of, or not usually. If he ever did, one would know something was wrong.

An impish grin came to Neron's lips. This caused his eyes to blaze and leap with delight. "Not as big of a load as what you said before." He settled back for a moment. Suddenly his face got serious and his eyes grew slightly darker, showing a change of mood. The wind brushed his raven hair back into his eyes. " Do you really want to know?"

[saerwen]

Jaedon gave him a knowing look. She saw what he was doing. He wanted to play the game, and so he had pulled her into a debate that would no doubt end in her defeat, but her pride was unstoppable, and so she had to continue on and finish the game all of the way that when she lost, she would know that she had lost for good. This was a game that she couldn't resist. And if she did lose, she could always save face by pushing him in the water. It had worked in the lagoon, she was pretty sure that she could do it again.

"You, sir, are no gentleman. Your excuse is completely void," Jaedon partially meant what she said. Neron wasn't like Damion in that knight in shining armor, prince charming gentleman way. However, Neron was a sort of prince charming in other ways, and as far as Jaedon was concerned, he was her prince charming. But she would never tell him that. She hated to think of how big his ego would be if he knew just how much she really thought of him and the things that she thought about him. There wouldn't be a space in the universe for his head because it would be too big, but then again, that spoke of all his lovable qualities, so perhaps it was good in some ways.

"What do you mean? In the five minutes that we have been talking, there is no way that I have already told a lie!" Jaedon gave him an exasperated look.

Jaedon then noticed that Neron had turned serious. What was he thinking about? There was no way that she could not ask, her curiosity always got the better of her and it always would. It was a trait that telepaths and cats had in good amount, so she was doubly messed up. She still figured that she had to have eighteen lives to make up for the fact that she was twice as plagued with curiosity as normal felines. She simply looked at him, head cocked slightly to the side, and then nodded, "Mhmm."

[»Míríel«]

"And you are no lady." Neron shot back the words with a smile. " So your support is destroyed. What a shame. Looks like both of us are at zero." It was true, she wasn't, at least not to him. To him, Jaedon was his beloved, little witch, his love, she was not some distant lady or normal female, she was someone he cared about. He just hadn't really gotten the guts up to express that to her. Plus, who knows what she would do if he told it to her straight to the face. Chaos would break loose.

" Welll Jaedon, just knowing your relationship with Damion and knowing you. I doubt you would do something as drastic as lopping off your hair just to spite him, especially if you were against the idea yourself. " He shrugged, " Then I could be wrong." He smirked, "I doubt it." With the smirk still plastered on his face he leaned forward toward the surface of the water and dipped his fingers in it. The water was pleasing. "Perfect, then I won't tell you at all. All the better ammo to torment you with." He shot her a playful look.

[saerwen]

"Yes, but at least I still have grounds for being a winner, and you have none at all. Not being a lady means I have no excuse for losing, so I guess it is a good thing that I have no inclination to try," Jaedon felt as though she had justified her point thoroughly, but she was sure that Neron would think of something to tear her argument to pieces, or else he would find some way to jump to a different subject and then best her completely.

Jaedon screwed up her face into a look of displeasure, "Okay, maybe a small lie. But in reality, he will freak out, so I might as well have done it for punishment. Just a good outcome from my rather-" she paused for a moment and then realized that she was actually confessing. She then narrowed her eyes and then quickly deviated from what she had been fixing to say, "good idea."

Jaedon watched as Neron leaned forward and her eyes opened slightly wider as she heard what he said. Of course he would do that. She could have told herself. Why had she let herself get swept into that farce? She pursed her lips and then looked to the side before deciding to take revenge. She gave him a quick and strong shove and then pulled back hoping to avoid the splash of water that she was almost sure would come. She looked up to see if her attack had been successful.

[»Míríel«]

" You have the excuse for being the so called "weaker sex" Plus I guess you are right. I was trying to be a gentleman but I don't think it suits me. Don't worry I won't force myself to be one again."

"Good idea? To what do you refer little my little kitty?"

Neron felt the water come rushing to greet him. To be honest, it was welcome. He had been wanting to get in it from the start, still to be pushed in. Jaedon should know what she was getting herself into. When he surfaced he pulled his now wet hair away from his eyes and stared at her with narrowed eyes, "You little witch." He shook his head. "Fine, I am rebuked. Do you really want to know? No tricks?"

[saerwen]

" What do you mean the 'so called weaker sex'? Are you going to tell me that you don't think women are naturally weaker than men? Wow, Neron, wouldn't have taken you for a feminist," Jaedon smirked. She had never really thought about the issue. She knew that physically, women were created with less ability to build up muscle than men, but whether that really did make them the weaker sex, she wasn't sure. Perhaps it did change things. But she also had to reason with herself that she had learned how to be strong, she had built herself in a way that made her good in fights. Perhaps there was an element about personality that had something to do with it too.

Jaedon raised an eyebrow at Neron after he called her 'little kitty', and then replied, "I was referring to getting my hair cut." And then she couldn't help but add, "And by the way, I am not little." It was true, Jaedon had really missed those pet names that Neron so wittily bestowed on her when he was trapped by the black dragon, and she would never again tell him to stop calling her those names, but there was no way that she could let them go without some sort of critique. The only ones that she would really suffer to pass without correction would be "witch" or "stalker".

Jaedon looked at him with mischief and glee lighting up her green eyes. She really liked doing that to him. Even in the lagoon, though she had been outraged, she had still enjoyed hearing the satisfying splash of success. A grin lit up her face as he called her a witch. She hadn't had this much fun in a while.

Jaedon gave him a doubtful look and scooted away from the waters edge slightly, but still leaving her feet in the water."Are you, indeed? Why do I not believe you? For some reason, I get the feeling that you will exact your revenge in a few moments. However, that aside, yes, I do want to know. No tricks, no lies, I want to know."

[»Míríel«]

"I believe you mean sexist. You are the feminist. I am just commenting from what I have heard others say. Though now that you are bringing it to question I may bring my own experience to defend it. You females, unless with diligent training and hard work, usually do not have the strength, or power than men do. Even when a woman has trained, when put up against a man who has trained just as hard, the level still isn't even in matters of strength alone. There are some exceptions, but none-the-less, usually this is the case. Thus she is the weaker sex in manners of strength. " He shrugged and sighed at having to explain this is such a long winded way. It annoyed him in a way, speaking so much.

Neron's eyes seemed to glow as he smirked at her. "Oh, but you are. I could crush you with my foot if I wished to." Comparatively Jaedon was tiny to Neron in their true forms. Neron was a dragon, nearly full sized, without thinking he could trod her underfoot and only think of her as a large rock.

"You have trust issues that is why." He shrugged. Reaching up with his hand he pushed his wet hair out of his eyes again before leaning back in the water and floating on his back. Silence stretched between them as Neron let his mind clear for a moment and his mouth to rest. There had been many words between them, how tiring. Neron didn't mind talking to Jaedon, he actually somewhat enjoyed it. The talking in long streams was strange to him. Usually his communication was made up little jabs.

"The environment changes." There was no introduction or easing into what he was going to say, he just smacked you in the face with the meat of it. " When I play I stay tuned into the surrounding, the energy, the inhabitants, and my feelings. When someone who does not belong enters, or wasn't there before, it disrupts the surroundings. The mood changes and the tune stops flowing." He had stopped floating by now and was looking at his hands, half submerged in front of him. "I only stop playing when something changes, my mood or surroundings. " He shrugged, his eyes still on his hands, and his hair was now hanging down, covering his eyes. "I have played over a day straight before.

[saerwen]

As Jaedon listened to Neron explain his point of view, she wondered to herself. If she was pitted in a fight against Neron, would she have been able to win? Her mind would hardly allow her to think like that. Why would she need to fight Neron? She could fabricate no reason. However, still curious about the outcome, she imagined being back in the dueling ring and that she didn't know Neron at all, which was the hardest part. She realized that more than likely she would lose. Not for lack of ability, but for lack counter attacks. Neron's mind ran as fast as hers if not faster during a fight. He was probably one of the few people that could beat her simply because they were both thinkers and they would both analyze the other. If Jaedon used her telepathy, then she would have had an unfair advantage, but only then could she possibly see herself winning.

"You could only crush me if you could catch me," Jaedon challenged. She knew that Neron would have been able to crush her easily in his true form, but she wasn't going to let the issue die away so quickly. At least, not when she could still think of a good comeback.

Jaedon was a little miffed when he mentioned her having trust issues. She screwed up her face for a moment. She didn't have trust issues! Reality said that she had lots of trust issues and she knew it, but she would never have admitted it to herself or anyone else. In complete denial, Jaedon quickly convinced herself that she didn't have trust issues and said, "I don't have trust issues, I just know you, and you happen to have a track record of seeking revenge on people when they least expect it."

"So the description of me as a disruption wasn't too far from the truth," Jaedon spoke thoughtfully. It made sense. She had heard Neron's music enough to know that what he played was what was in his heart and what was around him. It was liked he simply flew off to another world when he began to play his violin, and if you were lucky enough to hear him, you got a taste of what that world was like. "I suppose that next time I will just have to be present when you start so that I won't feel out of place to you," she smiled slightly and then gave another thoughtful look, "Although I am pretty sure that half of the times that you play are times when you are sour with me, or the other way around."

[»Míríel«]

Neron looked deeply into her eyes and drew closer to her. His voice lowered slightly, "Oh, I don't think that would be to hard." A smile played on his lips before he turned away.

Neron just looked at Jaedon with a disbelieving gaze, but then he nodded. "I do have a track record of that." He smirked, "But so do you." IT was true, both of them worked with surprises, and both sought revenge, usually. In this relationship they were both playing with fire, but that was the fun of it wasn't it? With every explosion that had happened, it only brought them closer together. A strange and interesting relationship.

"Very little of what I say is far from the truth." Neron flung back at her. When she mentioned being close to him and listening to him while he played Neron was unsure of that. He played off of his surroundings, he interacted with the subjects that made the environment. With Jaedon there...it might be revealing to much about what he thought of her. To be honest, he was somewhat frightened of the feelings he had for her. Everything had loved in the past had been killed or seriously injured. Thus he had withdrawn from people, only Miriel had been able to bring him back. This was why it took him so long to open up, he didn't want to get close to someone again, it was a barrier, a protection.

"Sour with you?" He looked at her with a confused look. "Like right now?" As he started saying the words he pushed his hands forward in the water, sending a fast moving wave of water at her. It wasn't big enough to drench her completely, but enough to get her at least a bit wet. He then ducked down in the water, submerging completely.